Warrior: a daft movie with a kick in the tale
It may be a hackneyed promo for mixed martial arts, but Gavin O’Connor’s film still moves you in the end.
A true triumph of style over substance
Combining a cool, kitsch soundtrack, extreme violence and a tooth pick, Drive is a brilliant, profound play upon the action movie.
Did the world need another Jane Eyre?
Cary Fukunaga’s new adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic is beautifully shot and acted, but a bit pointless.
A spy thriller, without the self-importance
David Hare’s Page Eight tried to Say Something Important, and it was all the better for having failed to do so.
A story in which everything has already happened
Julian Barnes’ masterful retelling of a life lived in retrospect is also an exploration of the human desire to give life meaning and order.
Must-reads from the past week
Taking the talent out of a music show
Sordid backstories, ineffably crap auditions and no Cheryl Cole – The X Factor’s back and it’s better than ever.
Clichéd encounters of the Spielberg kind
By paying loving homage to the movie-making era of ET, Super 8 only flags up its own lack of magic.
The roots of a musical movement
BBC4’s Reggae Britannia shows how Jamaican music provided a joyous soundtrack to political rebellion.
The indie scene is fun, but it isn’t radical
A new documentary about the music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties tries far too hard to stand up to ‘the man’.
Nowt so queer as folk
Brought up by parents who listened to Fairport Convention, I've always been suspicious of folk - until I heard Ranger3.
